Pliosauroidea
Classification
Sauropterygia--> Eosauropterygia--> Eusauropterygia--> Plesiosauria--> Pliosauroidea
Discussion
The Pliosauroidea, also colloquially known as pliosaurs, are a superfamily of typically short-necked plesiosaurs. They usually have a small number of short vertebrae in the neck and often have huge skulls. In some genera the skull may reach up to 3 meters in length and constitute about a quarter of the total length of the animal. The clade includes two main families (Pliosauridae and Rhomaleosauridae) as well as a variety of basal genera whose position is uncertain. Some authors also recognise a derived family of pliosaurs called the 'Brachauchenidae', which includes Brachauchenius and Kronosaurus
